Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices are low-cost, “smart” chips or “tags” that can be embedded in or attached to any manner of article or products to convey information about the item via a scanner. The RFID tags are generally small label-like devices with a microchip or data circuit and a miniature embedded antennae. The tags may be passive or active, the active tags requiring an internal power supply. A reader or scanner interrogates the RFID tag with an electronic “trigger” signal. The tag in turn generates an electromagnetic pulse response that is readable by the scanner, the response containing any manner of product information. RFID tags can be embedded directly in product packaging, or contained in a label that is applied to the product or packaging.
Various commercial applications have been suggested for RFID tags, particularly in the area of retail marketing and sales. For example, RFID technology may be used to gather information related to consumer trends, purchasing habits, consumption rates, etc. RFID technology also has promise in the areas of inventory control, manufacturing process and control, product accountability and tracking systems, etc. Manufacturers, shippers, and retailers may be able to follow a given product through their respective systems from initial production through to point of sale. The commercial and manufacturing implementations of RFID technology are ever increasing.
Inevitably, a percentage of the mass-produced RFID tags are defective, or will fail after being applied to a product. For any number of reasons, these faulty tags (termed “exceptions”) cannot be interrogated or convey their stored information and must be removed or replaced before a conventional RFID reader can further process the product. Current exception handling processes typically require manual handling or expensive and time consuming treatments to remove the defective tag and apply a new tag. Simply applying a new label (with RFID tag) over the old tag is generally not acceptable because the defective tag may interfere with performance of the replacement tag.
Various suggestions have been made in the art for deactivating or disabling RFID tags. For example US Pat. Appn. Pub. No. 2006/0290502 describes RFID tags that are disabled by altering the geometry of the embedded antenna within the RFID tag, thereby altering the field pattern of the antenna and preventing communication with an external reader. U.S. Pat. No. 7,098,794 discusses the need for deactivating RFID tags for privacy concerns and describes systems and methods for mechanically deactivating RFID tags with removable antennas, or preventing reading of the tag with removable shielding (i.e., a foil casing). US Pat. Appn. Pub. No. 2006/0214802 describes methods for shielding RFID tags in labels for selective reading of the tags during processing of the labels. Although the systems and methods described in the cited publications may prove useful for deactivating RFID tags, they are relatively time consuming and expensive, and are not particularly well suited for deactivating and simultaneously replacing an exception RFID tag.
A need thus exists in the art for an effective and inexpensive method and system for deactivating or disabling exception RFID tags while providing a replacement tag.